


Of Orphans and Artifacts

by zombiechick



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-26
Updated: 2014-01-26
Packaged: 2018-01-10 02:23:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1153637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zombiechick/pseuds/zombiechick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Buried” spoilers but not really.  I wrote this for a Last Fic Writer Standing over at LJ.  Mysteriously, as sometimes happens on the internet, the mod disappeared and the contest was never finished.  What happens when toys from an orphanage take on the despair of their owners?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Orphans and Artifacts

Myka hunkered down next to the box, and reached for a dusty flap, just as Artie strolled into the office. He held up a warning hand saying, “Myka, stop,” with a bit of force behind his words. Myka looked up at him, her hand suspended in midair. Artie pulled out a pair of purple gloves and tossed them to her, “Under no circumstances are those artifacts to be touched with bare hands.”

“Dangerous stuff?” Myka asked while pulling on the gloves.

“Extremely,” Artie stated. “They’re from an orphanage in San Francisco.”

“An orphanage?”

Artie nodded his head, and sat down at his computer, quickly typing, and then swiveling away, so that Myka could see the result, “Mount St. Joseph Orphanage began operation in San Francisco in 1863.”

Myka’s face pinched in sympathy as she looked into the box and found it packed with toys. “These are all artifacts?”

“Either known artifacts or things that Sister Yvonne, the Mother Superior, expected might be artifacts.”

“We had a nun working as an agent?” 

“What?” Artie asked, “Oh, no, no, no, her son, Victor Nunio was an agent.”

“She had a son?” Myka asked surprised.

“Well,” Artie explained smiling, “she didn’t start life as a nun. Victor chose to share his knowledge of the Warehouse with his mother after he investigated a rash of artifacts relating to children.”

“Aahh,” Myka said as she began unpacking the box.

“Sister Yvonne stayed in contact with me; she died last week.”

“And her son; Victor?” Myka asked, even though she dreaded inquiring about past agents.

“Disappeared,” Artie said simply.

Myka nodded without comment, “If we suspected that these were artifacts, why aren’t they already here?”

“Sister Yvonne refused to give them up,” Artie explained, “She hoped that she would be able to find the missing children herself.” 

“Missing children?” 

Artie shook his head, and picked up a chartreuse case file, and waved it at Myka, “A boy, Craig Nielsen age 8, and a girl, Wilhelmina McMillan age 6, went missing in 1967. It’s the last case that Vincent was working on.”

Myka pulled out several picture books and stacked them on the floor; a Raggedy Anne doll and a small plastic horse followed. “Were the disappearances investigated by the police? Possible kidnappings?”

Artie shrugged his shoulders, “They were investigated briefly,” he said as he watched Myka take out a red View Master and a box of picture discs, “but….” 

“They were orphans so no one looked for long,” Myka finished for him.

“Sister Yvonne never stopped looking,” Artie clarified.

“But, why these toys?” Myka asked with a pained expression.

“They were the only toys in the room when the children disappeared,” Artie explained. “Sister Yvonne thought that there must be a connection. It’s not unusual for toys to become artifacts. Children have a tendency to put a great amount of faith in tangible objects; specifically they connect powerful, lasting, emotions to toys.”

Myka nodded with understanding, “Chapter 37 in the manual.”

Artie wrinkled his eyes in a gesture that Myka had come to know meant he was proud of her. “Abandoned children in particular seem to fit the profile, probably something about the strength of their despair,” he finished and swallowed audibly as an image of a young Claudia Donovan flashed in his mind. 

The redhead in question chose that time to come storming into the office, trailed closely by Pete. “You are dead wrong,” Claudia said emphatically, “the S’mores are far superior.”

“Oh come on,” Pete whined, “the Strawberry flavor has little crystals that melt in the toaster; they’re like little bits of Heaven.”

Claudia rounded on him, “Don’t be seduced by flavor crystals. What about the stripes of marshmallow which get perfectly melty and gooey and drip all down the…” she paused mid sentence when she realized that she and Pete were being scrutinized closely by Myka and Artie. 

Claudia gave a cheery wave that was tinged with embarrassment, “Oh, hello there.” She waited for Artie to chastise her over the rather loud entrance into the Warehouse, but instead, she simply received a sappy smile from the older man.

“Hey, Kiddo,” he said gently and Claudia gave him a confused look as she stepped back in surprise. Then he cleared his throat loudly, and the scowling Artie was back in place. “Pete, Myka, we’ve got a case that is connected to an artifact that we already have in our possession. Let’s, uh, go on out to the stacks and I’ll brief you on the way.”

“We’re on it,” Pete said, speaking for both himself and Myka, as they followed the older agent.

+++++++++

When they returned from the stacks, nearly an hour had passed in which Claudia had managed to, once again, repair the Autovac, and finish organizing a large stack of files that had occupied Artie’s desk for a month. Artie was the first to enter the office in time to see Claudia raise the View Master to her face. He yelled out a warning as Claudia’s finger slowly depressed the trigger. Pete and Myka stepped up behind him as the familiar click and ratcheting noise filled the office.

Claudia lowered the View Master only to find that Artie, Pete, and Myka had all disappeared. Her face showed frightened surprise before she let out a low moan of despair, “Donovan, what have you managed to do now?” she growled in her best Artie voice before setting the View Master on the desk and quickly turning to Artie’s computer. Her fingers flew across the keys as she began researching a solution. 

++++++++++

“What in the flying f…” Pete began before being stopped by Myka’s hand on his arm.

“Pete, this is a children’s story,” she explained as she pointed to the brightly colored title that, inexplicably, hung in the air next to them.

“Hansel and Gretel?” Pete asked.

“Seems like we might have found Craig and Wilhelmina,” Artie said as he pointed to the children who were peering at them from the window of a small thatched cottage.

“We’re stuck in a View Master?” Pete bellowed as his head whipped around, examining the scenery.

“Pete,” Myka hissed, “you’re scaring them,” she pointed at the cottage just as the children’s heads ducked out of sight.

“I’m scaring them?” Pete asked, “I’m scared myself!”

Artie held out his hands in a calming gesture, “Look, I’m sure Claudia’s already on it,” he said, “let’s just remain calm.” He grimaced and glanced at his empty hands, “I feel naked without my bag.” 

“Let’s talk to the kids,” Myka suggested, “maybe they can tell us something.” She approached the cottage, and knocked on the door. 

After a few minutes, the children answered. Peering out the door, the little boy asked, “Yes?”

Myka gave him a reassuring smile, “Craig?” she asked. 

The boy nodded his head and slipped his arm around the little girl, “This is Wilhelmina,” he stated.

Myka felt Pete and Artie approach, “Is Agent Nunio with you?” Artie asked them.

“Victor?” the little girl asked.

“Yes, Victor,” Myka agreed, “is he with you?”

“He’s in the bedroom with Mother,” Craig told her. “They’re going to lead us into the woods soon and leave us there to die. I’ve already got the bread crumbs,” he explained as he pulled a handful of bread from his pocket.

Myka gasped in surprise but Wilhelmina just patted her hand gently, “It’s okay we’ve done this lots of times.” 

+++++++

Back in the Warehouse office, Claudia finished reading an online document, crowed with triumph, picked up the View Master and quickly began clicking through the reel. 

+++++++

The three agents, and the children, gasped with surprise as they were speedily transported through the story.

They could hear the clicking of the trigger as they watched first Victor, in the role of the Woodsman, and the Mother abandon the children, and the Gingerbread Cottage come into view. The familiar action played out, and, finally, the children pushed the witch into the oven.

They stood in the last scene expectantly waiting for the final panel that would read “The End.” Pete poked at the Gingerbread Cottage, and Artie slapped a large peppermint piece out of his hand before the younger man could eat it. “Do I really have to lecture you about not eating pieces of artifacts?” Artie asked. 

Pete turned crimson and mumbled, “Sorry, ‘m hungry.”

Myka sighed, exasperated, but then cheered as she heard a final click. The scene was suffused with a purple light, and they found themselves back in the Warehouse. Artie took stock, finding that Victor and the children had made it out, too. The three of them cried out in joy, and Craig and Wilhelmina jumped into Victor’s arms as they all sobbed with relief.

Claudia held up the neutralizing bag that she had slipped the View Master reel into, “Really? An evil artifacty toy?” 

“Well…” Artie began.

Claudia’s face lit up with realization, “Chapter 37,” she said sagely. 

“Huh?” Pete asked, confused.

“Dude,” Claudia chastised, “RTFM.”


End file.
